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Friday, April 23, 2010

Benjamin Gone From WWE

I just saw where WWE did its annual "Spring cleaning." There really weren't many surprises in my opinion, although releasing Mickie James and Shelton Benjamin was bound to generate strong reaction from wrestling fans, both positively and negatively.

After digesting this news and many of the fans' comments posted at various Internet outlets, I truly feel some fans really tend to overestimate Shelton Benjamin.

I appreciate his wrestling ability, I acknowledge his amateur background, and I'll even admit that WWE probably didn't use his talents fully. However, I can only assume that there were legitimate reasons for Shelton's lack of a push. Having no so-called insider information, I can only opine that it was Benjamin's rather bland personality and shaky mike skills that got in his way.

It has become something of a cliche to say that in today's industry, wrestlers must be more than sound technicians, they have to be entertainers as well, especially in WWE, where Vince McMahon is attempting to sell his superstars, not competitive wrestling. Clearly, Benjamin lacked charisma, despite several attempts by WWE to "get him over." Granted, the "Mama" and "Gold Standard" programs were not among WWE's strongest, but they do indicate that Creative had at least tried.

So far, I've seen fans use terms such as "big mistake" and "regret" and "screwed" when writing about Benjamin's firing. To that I respond, "Not really." Benjamin had what looked like tons of potential, but facts are facts, and the fact is that in the eight years he wrestled as part of the main WWE roster, WWE was unable to elevate him to the main-event level.

Having said all that, I still feel it is worth TNA's while to consider adding Benjamin to the roster at some point. What do you think?

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It WOULD be worth it if there were an outside chance that fans might actually see him but the way the same individuals DOMINATE Impact each week, that's not likely. Not that Benjamin should get any kind of push but he could certainly be used as enhancement talent and make a very tough opponent even for TNA`s top stars ESPECIALLY if he were given a manager to do his talking for him. But like I said, there doesn't seem to be much interest at TNA of intelligently building stars for the future but rather a desperate scrambling for quick fixes by pushing young greenhorns simply because they have "The Look" or stars of the past getting by on little more than name recognition.

I agree with you 100 percent. I never understood the IWC's love of Benjamin. He had a lot of potential for a few months back in 2004, but since then he's proven that he lacks that "if factor" to be a top player.

I honestly thought Charlie Haas was the more complete package than his World's Greatest Tag Team partner.

Want do all these legendary wrestlers have in common? Even though they were all great wrestlers, their charisma was as exciting as watching paint dry. Nowadays it seems like character is more important than ability. Great wrestlers of the past wouldn't stand a chance in today's wresting scene unless they are in the indies or overseas. Shelton might had the charisma of a loaf of bread, but his talent was off the charts.